Whether in Oklahoma or Rhode Island, it was a clean sweep for DiBella Entertainment (“DBE”) this past weekend as one of the best super middleweights in the world, and five of the best young prospects in all of boxing, scored impressive wins in their quests to reach the world championship level. The winnings ways started on Friday night at the First Council Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma where DBE presented a televised triple header on Showtime’s ShoBox series. In the main event, WBC #6, WBO #9, IBF #11, WBA #12 ranked super middleweight Allan Green (29-1, 20 KOs) won a dominant unanimous over late replacement, Tarvis Simms(25-1-1, 11 KOs.). Green was originally scheduled to face rugged, power puncher Victor Oganov (26-2, 26 KOs) as he waits for an opportunity to enter Showtime’s Super Six: World Boxing Classic tournament. Instead, in Simms he faced a slick boxer who changed stances several times throughout the course of the contest. Nevertheless, Green proved he could adapt to any style by winning nearly every round.
“Allan trained for Victor Oganov and Oganov is nothing like Tarvis,” said promoter Lou DiBella. “It was a dominating win against a skilled pro that was impossible to look impressive against.”
The co-feature matched two of the best young welterweights in the world as DBE’s own Antwone Smith (17-1, 9 KOs) battled previously unbeaten Henry Crawford (22-1-1, 9 KOs). Crawford started strong, winning the first two rounds with his tremendous speed, but for the rest of the fight, Smith began flashing the skills that have led him to upset wins over Richard Gutierrez and Norberto Gonzalez in his previous two fights. Smith dropped Crawford once in round six, and again in round nine before Crawford’s corner had seen their man get beat up too much.
At only 22 years of age, Smith has already faced, and defeated, stiffer competition than many top contenders in the game. Given his age, and experience, the prognosis on Smith’s career appears to be a limitless future.
“Antwone again proved he’s one of the best young fighters in the game by stopping Crawford,” said DiBella. “There is no 22-year old pro in the country with more impressive wins than Antwone Smith. With DBE behind him, he’ll be given the best opportunities to meet his potential.”
In the televised opener, unbeaten super middleweight prospect Marcus Johnson (18-0, 14 KOs) faced the stiffest test of his young career, and passed with flying colors, by winning an 8-round decision over Victor Villereal (8-4-2, 4 KOs). Johnson dropped Villereal in round six and coasted the rest of the way to an 80-71, 80-71, 79-72 decision. The dominance of Johnson’s performance was even more impressive considering that he hurt his hand sixth round and had to switch styles, opting to box Villereal instead of going for the kill.
“Marcus Johnson is a beast-in-waiting and a skilled boxer,” said DiBella. “When he hurt his right hand the boxer took over. Given the adversity, I thought it was a real impressive performance against a tough pro.”
Even when the television cameras weren’t rolling in Oklahoma, DBE was. On the non-televised portion of the show middleweight prospect Willie Monroe, Jr. (6-0, 2 KOs), and heavyweight prospect Tor Hamer (9-0, 7 KOs) scored big wins. Monroe won a 4-round decision over Tyson Schwieger, while Hamer continued his trend of winning, and winning big, by knocking out Howard Jones 22 seconds into the first round.
“Willie and Tor are two fighters on course for greatness,” said DiBella. “Tor showed what a monster he can be, and Willie did his thing by out-slicking a game challenger. They might have different styles, but these are two fighters with endless potential.”
Although the ring in the Oklahoma was dismantled, and ShoBox went off the air, that didn’t stop DBE from taking their winning act elsewhere. Saturday, on a card promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports from the Twin Rivers Event Center in Lincoln, Rhode Island, young prodigy Edwin Rodriguez (12-0, 8 KOs) passed the stiffest test of his professional career with a unanimous decision win over Darnell Boone (16-13-2, 6 KOs).
Boone, who has made a career out of derailing top prospects, was simply no match for Rodriguez’s accurate punching and slick boxing skills. A shutout win over a an experienced warhorse like Boone has the whole DBE team excited over hometown hero from Worcester, Massachusetts.
“In another New England main event, Edwin proved himself against stepped up competition,” said DiBella. “He’s on course to be a ranked and television-showcased fighter. Thanks to world-class promoter Jimmy Burchfield for giving Edwin the chance to showcase his skills not too far from his home.”